It’s always a knock on prepaid: you don’t get as good a per-minute rate, because you’re not locked into a long term contract. Major carriers value the commitment, because it means more guaranteed money for them — or a hefty early termination fee. Still, prepaid affords the consumer flexibility not available on major contract carriers. Even with plenty of shopping and comparison, one might not be able to find that careful balance of price and flexibility. British company Noodle Telcom has started to offer an attractive option: short-term contracts and cheaper prices. So instead of signing up for a 24-month contract, with Noodle, you only sign a three-month contract — and when you sign up, your first two months are free. After that, it’s 4.95 pounds per month. The call rates are then 7 pence per minute to UK landlines and between 7 and 15 pence for cross-network calls — and 8 pence per text. However, you can recoup some of that money, as you can earn up to 2 pence per minute on received calls. To us, that’s the best feature. What does this mean for us in the US? Well, maybe if the business model succeeds, we’ll see a version of it over here. Which would be very nice, since we could always use some more (and by more, we mean cheaper) options. With this and mobile VoIP, we may have more options in the near future. [Motley Fool]]]>
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